At typical suspended ceiling has a grid of frame members which extend across the ceiling and consist of a first plurality of parallel frame members extending in one direction and second plurality of frame members extending perpendicular to the first frame members forming a plurality of rectangular or square openings. Each of the frame members has a horizontally oriented lower bar and a planar vertically oriented upper bar having a lower edge joined to the longitudinal center of the lower bar such that the frame member has a cross sectional shape of an inverted "T". The rectangular openings are therefore defined by vertical walls formed by the vertically oriented upper bars around which extends a lower lip formed by a portion of the horizontally oriented lower bar members.
The ceiling includes a plurality of rectangularly shaped panels with dimensions sized to fit between the vertical walls of the rectangular openings of the grid with the edges of the panels resting on top of the lips extending around each opening. The customary method of providing ceiling illumination for a room covered by a suspended ceiling, is to remove one of the ceiling panels and insert a lighting fixture having a rectangular frame with outer dimensions equal to the outer dimensions of the ceiling panel. Existing lighting fixtures for use with suspended ceilings, however, incorporate fluorescent light bulbs which are positioned above the plane defined by the ceiling panels such that the fixture is recessed within the ceiling. These fixtures provide adequate light to a room covered by the suspended ceiling, but they have no aesthetic appeal.
A chandelier, for example, is a light fixture which is aesthetically appealing. The prisms which make up a chandelier reflect light which can compliment the other decorative qualities of the room such that the decoration of the room including the ceiling and the lighting is aesthetically attractive. Presently there is no conventional method for incorporating ceiling lighting into the aesthetic decorations of a room which is covered by a suspended ceiling, and it would therefore be desirable to provide a mounting for a light fixture which can support a chandelier or other lighting element and be useable with a suspended ceiling to add to the appearance of the room.